Indigo & Paper

Enter one batch's materials, hours and overhead to get your cost per item and a direct price. It then shows what a shop's wholesale or consignment terms would leave you, with every step of the arithmetic shown.

A handover a house or pet sitter can use without phoning you: the one page they read first, each pet, the house, what to do when something goes wrong, and the check before you leave.

The interview questions that show how a nanny actually works, how to check references properly, and what to agree in writing before the first day.

A friend has asked you to marry them. Here is the order of work: the questions to ask the licensing office, the conversation with the couple, the parts of a ceremony, how long each takes, and the licence afterwards.

An "if I die" binder is an index, not an archive. Who to tell, where things are, what you would like, and the few things that must go through a professional instead.

Price stickers from the sheet divided by the stickers that survive, then add your time and the per-order packing and fees, which cost the same whether an order holds one sticker or eight. In the worked example one sticker sold alone needs about $2.42, while the same sticker in a sheet of eight works out at about $1.15.

Cost the whole batch, divide by the bars you can actually sell, add your time and overhead, then divide by what is left after fees and margin. In the worked example, $16.30 of materials over nine sellable bars and ten minutes a bar gives a floor of about $8.08 a bar at 8% fees and a 30% margin.

Price handmade jewelry from dated component costs plus a waste allowance, your full time and overhead, then divide by what is left after fees and margin. Re-cost every piece that uses a component when you reorder it at a new price; in the worked example a pair costing $11.35 needs about $18.31 for a 30% margin after 8% fees.

Price crochet from the yarn the piece uses and your timed hours at a rate you would accept, add overhead, then divide by what is left after fees and margin. If the number looks too high, the honest choices are to charge it and sell fewer, change the product so it takes fewer hours, or treat it as a hobby that pays for its yarn.

Price a container candle from the jar up: materials, a share for test burns and seconds, your batch time and overhead, then divide by what is left after fees and margin. In the worked example the jar costs more than the wax, and a candle costing $7.47 needs about $12.05 for a 30% margin after 8% fees.

Cost the whole batch including your time, divide by the items you can actually sell rather than the number you baked, then price for a margin, not a markup. In the worked sourdough batch that makes the cost 9.43 a loaf and the price 13.10, which keeps 25% after a 3% card fee.

The most useful hospital bag list is the one your hospital or birth centre gives you. What to add around it, what people forget, and the part of the plan that is not in the bag at all.